Somatic Systems

 

The 2010 Anatomy Trains workshops for Tokyo finished up last week, and as I find myself tying up the loose ends of associated administrative work this week I am struck by how fast the event came and went.

Nearly a year in planning for 6 days of fabulous education from Tom Myers, and before we knew it we were escorting him to the airport shuttle...a little surreal, but I guess that is how it goes.

The event itself was a resounding success.  The information was awesome, as usual (Thank you Tom!!).  The staff really worked hard to make things flow smoothly (Thank you SO much!!).  And the participants were great people with a real desire to learn and experience as much as possible (Thank you ALL very much...we couldn't have done it without you).

I would really urge anyone interested in the human body to any degree to take some time to at least check out Tom's book Anatomy Trains, and if possible go attend a lecture or workshop with him.  He has truly taken things to another level, and the depth of knowledge he has (and conveys in his teaching) is remarkable and inspiring.

We are already starting to plan for offering the Anatomy Trains Body Language certification course here in Tokyo beginning next year 2011.  The course is run by Tom's company Kinesis and is a 200 hour training course delving into fascial anatomy, palpation skills, holistic biomechanics and touch-cueing.  It is geared for any movement therapist (yoga teachers, Pilates instructors, personal trainers, athletic trainers, etc.) interested in developing their professional skill and competence.

Because of logistics associated with international travel for the instructors, we are looking at making it 4 modules lasting 7 days each spaced every 3 months.  Stay tuned here or at the Somatic Systems News for further info.  Or if you know you are interested, you are welcome to contact Kaori and I directly.

"Always do more than is required of you."
―General George S. Patton

The thing I really enjoy about putting up these quotes each week is that they often remind of people or events in my life where I have learned similar lessons.  Reading the quotes bring back these memories and help me ground the teachings into my current life and work.

This week's quote reminds me of an experience I had when I was 19 years old.  I was doing some construction work to reinforce the the walls of the local movie theater in the town I grew up in, and after a day or two on the job the man I was helping pulled me aside and basically told me the same thing Patton said.  He was kind about it, but explained that in order to ensure that I was always the "first person hired and the last person fired" I had to do more than the bare minimum level of work.

If you want to excel in life, you need to show the world that you can earn it and deserve it.  Simply showing up and going through the motions isn't going to be enough.  That goes for all elements of life...work, relationships, etc.

 "People with goals succeed because they know where they are going."
―Earl Nightingale

This weeks quote seems pretty straight forward and obvious, but then again as the saying goes 'common sense is not that common'.  While many people will actually begin some activity with a goal in mind, it is not unusual that the goal is entirely unrealistic or the person is unwilling to take the steps that actually lead to it.

If someone has a goal to rehab from an injury, but they are unwilling to make the time on a regular basis to do the things needed for their recovery then obviously they won't succeed.

Knowing where you are going (or where you want to go) is very important, but of perhaps greater importance is having the will and dedication to actually get there.

No...No...No...

Seriously, can we finally just stop this stuff?  All of it...sit ups, crunches, 1/2 crunches, ab machines, curls, curl ups...whatever you want to call them, ENOUGH ALREADY.  As a collective populous the people of the world have done enough loaded ab flexion to last us for the next several decades.  (As the saying goes, if I had a dollar for every situp...)

I was speaking with my good friend, MAT therapist Kazu about this the other day and we were trying to figure out when and why situp activities were elevated to such a position of power and respect becoming the default standard exercise in every freakin' sport or conditioning regimen.

If we are going for exercises that can be done lying on the ground without any equipment, then a far better candidate for that title slot would have been prone cobras.  I am not saying they are the best thing in the world, but at least the cobra aligns with human evolution and anthropological common sense.


Yes...

Think old-school for a second, people.  Really old-school, like 20,000 years old...back when just keeping your butt alive was a workout and you didn't concern yourself with extra training.  For hunter-gatherer types trying to put food in their mouths, loaded spinal flexion was probably limited to low reps of throwing objects (with low load because heavy objects don't fly far) and punching things.  In contrast, the body was more likely subjected to greater volumes of loaded spinal extension (bending over to pick up objects) and resisting spinal extension (pushing on something from an upright torso position).

Granted this is a highly simplistic overview of spinal mechanics, and of course there may have been instances of wrasslin' something or someone (where having strong flexion capabilities from a supine position could have been a boon), but the big picture is we are far better served to develop our spinal extension strength and resistance to spinal extension than spinal flexion...that is how our bodies evolved to operate.

So where did all the sit ups come from?  Kazu and I figured that once weight training for strongman activities shifted to weight training for aesthetic purposes, people got enamored with the 6-pack physique and the quest for abs began with situp activities.  And what a misguided quest it became.  Not only do sit up activities contribute little or nothing to the reduction of body fat around the midsection (something that has to happen in order to see those coveted abdominals), the high rep count that most people subject themselves to is essentially worthless for hypertrophication of the abdominals.

Any trainer or coach with a minimum entry level education knows that muscle hypertrophy occurs around the 8 to 12 rep range when loaded with approximately 80% of the one rep max load...so if you want your abs to thicken up (and I am not neccesarily advocating this) what is the rationale for doing 100 or so crunch ups off the floor?  Stop and think if you can seriously justify this.  Would you follow this rep scheme if you were trying to add size to your legs, back or arms?  (And no, this doesn't mean you should use a seated ab machine with high resistance...unless you actually want quadratus lumborum problems and a disk herniation.)


Hell no...

Not to mention that crunching or sitting up from the floor is working only a portion of your full range of motion for the anterior side of your abdominal wall...so again why is this useful if the goal is to increase the ab size (for definition) and/or diminish body fat?  (And no, ladies...lots of crunches won't 'tone' your midsection...if they did wouldn't it have happened for you all ready?)

Furthermore, if you stop and consider modern lifestyles where everyone is sitting on their butt all day long creating chronic tension and shortening of the anterior muscular of the trunk and hips, it is obvious that situp activites will contribute to musculoskeletal dysfunction.  If you sit hunched over at a desk and/or in your car all day long, why on earth would you then lay on the ground and force your body to flex forward more?  The correct response to day of sitting and hunching is something like prone cobras, which I mentioned earlier...not more forward flexing.

And don't even try to play the athlete card on me here either...athletes don't need them.  I have trained highly competitive athletes and dramatically improved their performance without once (not even one time!) having them do sit ups or crunches.

If you really understand functional anatomy, you could probably discern when a loaded spinal flexion activity might be warranted for yourself or someone you are coaching.  But the global use of sit up activities for general fitness or athletic conditioning was not a good idea to begin with, and is currently well past its expiration date and needs to be tossed out in favor of more intelligent protocols.

"Chance favors the prepared mind."
~Louis Pasteur

This week's quote actually reminds me of another quote I encountered somewhere in my life (though I can't recall the source):

Luck is where opportunity meets preparation.

In my opinion, the take home message for both of these is to be prepared so as to be able to seize that which chance throws your way.  The ability to capitalize on a chance opportunity is what really determines success.  And though it may seem like luck, there is an active effort component involved.

A great example of this is popular musicians.  Many people fail to realize that the "new" band with the new song on the radio is really not that new.  They have often been playing music for years, refining their skills, developing their craft, and generally getting well enough prepared so that when that chance happens to come their way they are able to grab.  An "overnight success" is often the result of years of preparation.